Pumpkin bread: Your new go‑to fall recipe for homemade goodness

Will pumpkin become the new zucchini? All indications suggest it will! During the summer, zucchini recipes ruled, but now it's pumpkin's time. This versatile and healthy vegetable tastes great in both sweet and savory dishes, and this bread is a nice balance between those flavors.

Homemade bread is delicious but requires a good deal of practice. Vegetable breads are a cross between bread and cake. They are much simpler, always turn out well, and are a great way to start your adventure with homemade bread. So don't delay—make pumpkin bread as soon as possible.

The dough for this pumpkin bread can be prepared in less than half an hour. The main ingredient you'll need is purée from roasted pumpkin. It's good to make this purée and store it ahead of time for various fall dishes. You can keep it in the fridge for several days. If you need to store it longer, it's best to can or freeze it.

Remove all seeds from the pumpkin and cut it into smaller pieces. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and drizzle with olive oil. Put it in a preheated oven and bake for 40 minutes at 350°F. The pumpkin should be perfectly soft. Then, remove the skin and blend. The pumpkin purée is ready. It's the key ingredient of the bread. The other ingredients are likely already in your kitchen: natural yogurt, all-purpose flour, water, olive oil, and instant yeast. Though the list is short, these well-chosen ingredients ensure the bread turns out soft and fluffy and stays fresh for a long time.

Ingredients:

              
• 16 oz of all-purpose flour
• 4 oz of natural or Greek yogurt
• 5 oz of pumpkin purée
• 2 fl oz of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 1.5 teaspoons of salt
• 0.25 oz of instant yeast
• Optional: cinnamon, ginger, finely chopped dried fruit

Instructions:

            
1. Combine the pumpkin purée with water and yogurt. Mix until the ingredients are well combined.
2. Sift the flour into a stand mixer bowl, add yeast, sugar, and salt (making sure the salt does not come into direct contact with the yeast). Make a well in the flour, then pour in the pumpkin yogurt mixture and 7 fl oz of lukewarm water.
3. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, gradually adding olive oil.
4. Cover the kneaded dough with a cloth and let it rise for 45 minutes.
5. Transfer the risen dough to a floured board and knead again.
6. Shape the dough into a loaf. Place it on a baking sheet, cover with a cloth, and let it rise again for 20 minutes.
7. Place it in a preheated oven at 400°F and bake for about 45 minutes.